Red Molly Trio Plays Bluegrass Mix Of American Music Throughout Connecticut

The all female trio Red Molly can be found throughout Connecticut playing a mix of Appalachian ballads, bluegrass, gospel and Jazz that guitarist Carolann Solebello says is high in fiber and rich in diversity. "We do a nice big salad of different songs," she says.
Scheduled for release soon is their forthcoming CD entitled, "Love and Other Tragedies." The same music mix as the previous CD but with more original material. Abbie Gardner, who plays a stringed instrument called a Dobro or resophonic guitar, is credited with most of the original material on "Never Been to Vegas," while Ms. Solebello

admits that she and banjo and guitar player Laurie MacAllister have gotten away from songwriting in the last few years.

So what changed their tune? "There was something missing - both of us felt the need to have something to say," said Ms. Solebello. Starting slowly with one song on the new CD, she's proud of her bluegrass piece, "Summertime."

From a personal experience, she thinks the bluegrass roots of it make it twice as nice. "I'm pretty psyched," she says, "because it's a genre that I was introduced to not too long ago and I've been able to write something in it."

The three musicians got away from their song writing roots in order to introduce thoughtful fans to music they regularly un-cover from an abyss that contains an awful lot of good music. "There's so many beautiful, beautiful songs that people need to hear," she says.

Sounds good on paper (and even better between the plastic CD case) but they didn't know how the idea would be greeted at first on the music scene. "We were making the kind of music that we wanted to hear. That was exciting for us and we were so pleasantly surprised when other people enjoyed that," she says. In turn, the positive response provided even more incentive to perfect what they loved doing on stage.

As a result, now 9 to 5 adds up to nothing. Leaving their day jobs, as it turns out, in succession, she says, "We're grateful to be working consistently. It really is very nice."

Looking online at their tour schedule, they certainly do get around, so to speak, for a threesome of nice girls but fidelity matters to them and for more than the hopes of just a good

sound system. "Being in a band is kind of like being married," says Ms. Sobell - with familiarity and compromise being just as holy in this type of arrangement.

And absent a private jet, the road beneath their wheels keeps them grounded and close. Talking all night for hours on end, she says, "We're like a little family." And it shows on stage with a banter that amuses and delights the audience.

In addition, the three thirtysomethings please the eyes as well as the ears but Ms. Solebello makes no distinction as to who qualifies as their "Paul." "We're all kind of cute in our own way," she jokes."

It translates into an audience that is as diverse as their music. "We don't go to a lot of bars, we play venues that you can bring your whole family," she says.

Among the Red Molly minions, she proudly claims a large contingent of teen and pre-teen girls. "That makes us very happy because we kind of fancy ourselves role models," she says in doing something that not a lot of women do.

Additionally, they love playing small coffee shops and libraries because they engender a keen attention span by nature. "People listen, it's awesome, and we like reading," she says, "reading is good."

Life is good too. "My life is ridiculously cool. I have a wonderful husband, I have a wonderful young son who is delightful and I have the best job in the world. I get to travel around with my friends and make music. How could I ask for more than that," she concludes.

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